REL A 250 1/21/2017 "What is Truth"

What is truth? I have pondered over this for a long time and I enjoyed our discussion on this during our last class period. Elder Uchtdorf in his talk "What is Truth" (which Bro. Griffin cited in class) says, "never in the history of the world has it been more important to learn how to correctly discern between truth and error. Part of our problem in the quest for truth is that human wisdom has disappointed us so often. We have so many examples of things that mankind once “knew” were true but have since been proven false." I have felt discouraged many times in my life by the overload of information and opinion which diminishes the likelihood of encountering real truth.

In D&C  93:24 it states, "...truth is a knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come." And in D&C 84:45 it states, "...whatsoever is truth is light..." The importance of having truth in our lives is not only valuable, but essential to our salvation. Truth provides us direction and gives light to situations where our decisions have major consequences. An example of truth that fits both of the descriptions mentioned in the scriptures is the revealed Plan of Salvation. This revealed truth allows us to understand the "why" behind many events "as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come", and we have the light necessary to make correct decisions.

To finish, I thought I would share some thoughts about truth that I had during our discussions in class.

• Truth is not owned: to assume that we (as member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) have a monopoly on truth is to severely limit our eternal progress. There is truth in many other sects and faiths that we encounter. 
• Our eternal goal is to seek truth: if truth is light and our eternal destiny and mission is to become like our Heavenly Father who is full of truth and light, we must continually seek out truth.
• We sometimes may be afraid of seeking out truth because it means we need to change.